Towards a postdigital social contract for higher education in the age of artificial intelligence

Hayes, S ORCID: 0000-0001-8633-0155, Jandrić, P and Green, B.J (2025) 'Towards a postdigital social contract for higher education in the age of artificial intelligence.' In: Peters, M.A, Kamenarac, O, Green, B.J, Jandrić, P and Besley, T, eds. Postdigital education for development. Springer, Cham, pp. 115-134. ISBN 9783031992469

Text 17336.pdf - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only until 8 October 2026.

Abstract

This chapter sketches contemporary transformations of social contract and outlines a path towards the development of a postdigital social contract for higher education in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI). We set the scene by looking at existing research in AI and education. We then briefly discuss the idea of the ‘social contract’ as it has been conceived by both classic and contemporary authors. We also examine the more recent calls for a rethinking and reactualization of the social contract, given ongoing inequities of opportunity and societal disadvantage. Finally, we warn about the problems with mixing the algorithmic epistēmē and McPolicy, argue for a rehumanization of the policy discourse, insist on a shift from short-term hyping to sustainable development, and call for a rich, wide, and critically reflexive debate about how a postdigital social contract for higher education in the age of AI might look.

Item Type:	Book Chapter or Section
Note:	This work was first published in the journal 'Postdigital Science and Education', Volume 6, 2024.
Keywords:	postdigital, social contract, higher education, HE, artificial intelligence, AI, ChatGPT
Divisions:	School of Education
Date Deposited:	20 Oct 2025 17:27
Last Modified:	20 Oct 2025 17:27
URN:	https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/17336

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